To Joseph Mortimer Granville (1833-1900), the inventor of the electromechanical vibrator.
Listen to it on Spotify: smarturl.it/ScoutsPlaylist
Elton John
“Empty Garden”
“Someone Saved My Life Tonight”
“Candle in the Wind”
“Little Jeannie”
Billy Joel
“Piano Man”
“New York State of Mind”
“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”
“You’re My Home”
Carole King
“So Far Away”
“Beautiful”
Beethoven
“Moonlight Sonata (First Movement)”
“The Tempest (Third Movement)”
“Symphony No. 5”
Mozart
“Sonata for Piano and Violin in F”
“Fantasia in D Minor”
“Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor”
Jerry Lee Lewis
“Great Balls of Fire”
“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On”
Yanni
“In the Morning Light”
“Until the Last Moment”
“The Rain Must Fall”
“One Man’s Dream”
John Tesh
“Key of Love”
“Can’t Live a Day”
“I Do (Cherish You)”
Nora Jones
“Come Away with Me”
“Thinking About You”
Scout Turner sighed in annoyance as he closed a file and added it to the rejection pile on his desk. He’d been looking for a new personal assistant and not a single candidate out of twenty-two had impressed him. Well, that wasn’t true. Alex Shepherd had been ideal, on paper, and Scout had been looking forward to seeing if he had the same impression when they met in person. But Shepherd hadn’t shown up for his interview, which had been scheduled to start ten minutes ago. Tardiness was something Scout refused to allow in his employees, unless there was a damn good reason for it. He hadn’t created a business empire by accommodating other people’s shortcomings. So, Shepherd’s file got tossed on top of the others that would be shredded in the near future. If the man couldn’t make it to the initial job interview on time, how could Scout expect anything more from him?
It’d been two weeks since he’d fired Evan Fisher, his PA for the past thirty months, after finding out the man was resentful of the men Scout saw socially. He’d been screwing around with his boss’s schedule, emails, and phone messages, deleting some and switching the times on others. Scout had missed several dates over the past six or eight months and had wondered why a few of the guys he’d been into had suddenly stopped making contact.
Apparently, Evan had decided he wanted much more from his employer than just a paycheck. Scout had made it a habit not to date anyone who worked for him or who he had business dealings with, not that he’d been attracted to Evan at all anyway. Yes, he’d been good-looking, in a metro-sexual kind of way, but Scout had experienced zero interest in the man on a personal level since the day he’d been hired. When he’d found out what Evan had been up to, sabotaging his private life, Scout had canned him on the spot and banned him from all his properties. And now, when he should be concentrating on the new hotel he was having built in Seattle, among other things, Scout was stuck without a PA and had to deal with finding one who suited him.
As president and CEO of Turner Continental, Scout owned several hotels, including the one he used as his home base—the Paradox Hotel & Residencies in San Francisco. The other hotels, along with a few restaurants, clubs, and condo complexes, were in various cities up and down the West Coast. One of his newest ventures, in which he’d agreed to be a silent partner, was the Cock & Bull, a pub that had just opened directly across the street from the Paradox. His longtime friend, Rico Demara, was the primary owner and manager. Scout was looking forward to seeing the man succeed—and not just from a financial standpoint either. The profits Scout was expecting from the C & B didn’t come close to those of any of his other properties. But Rico had overcome a lot in his life, and it was about time the guy was involved in something positive for a change.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Shepherd.” Delilah Webb’s no-nonsense voice filtered through the slightly open door separating his office from hers. She’d been Scout’s secretary for ten years, watching his company grow from one renovated hotel to the conglomerate it was now, and guarded him like a pit bull. More than once, he’d asked her to change positions and be his PA, but she’d turned him down each time, saying she was quite comfortable with her current job. That, and the PA’s position required a lot of travel and after-hours meetings and events, and Delilah preferred to spend that time with her husband, children, and grandchildren. “Your appointment was fifteen minutes ago. You were marked as a no-show, and there are no second chances with Mr. Turner. You should have called.”
“But, please. I really need this job. I didn’t mean to be late—” The rich, baritone voice caught Scout’s attention. Something about it had sent a delicious shiver down his spine. He brought his computer out of sleep mode and clicked on the program that was connected to the hotel’s security feeds. He quickly found the one for Delilah’s office and studied the man standing in front of her desk. Shepherd gave the phrase tall, dark, and handsome a new and intriguing meaning.
“And yet you are.”
“I know, and I’m really sorry. It was unavoidable. Please, is there any chance I can reschedule?” Through the camera lens, Scout could see genuine dejection and dismay on the man’s face, along with a chiseled jaw and slightly crooked nose as if it’d been broken once before.
From Shepherd’s job application and résumé, Scout knew he was thirty-four and had a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management and an associate’s degree in business administration from New York University. Following that, he’d had an impressive career at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, climbing the ranks until he made junior executive. He’d recently relocated to California for undisclosed family reasons, and Scout found himself suddenly curious about what they were. While he could be a bitch of a boss to work for, he did have a heart when it came to the faithful employees of Turner Continental. Delilah and the managers of each of his properties kept him up to date on things like deaths, births, marriages, etc. in the families of his employees. He made sure Delilah sent each one an appropriate card and gift from him. It was something his father had done for years in his own real estate investment company.
Delilah shook her head. “The best I can do is to pass along your request to Mr. Turner, but, honestly, I don’t expect him to relent and give you another chance. The man runs a tight ship. He demands the best from his employees, and they respect him enough to give it to him.”
Letting out a heavy breath, Shepherd nodded his head in resignation. “I understand that, but I’d really appreciate it if he could give me another chance to prove myself. That’s all I’m asking for.”